Reflections (at different times) on ecumenical or interfaith issues, theology, spirituality, ministry, the arts, politics, popular culture, or life in general ... occasionally, just some funny stuff.

Sunday, 11 June 2017

Enjoying the Trinity: a sermon for Trinity Sunday

It’s good to be
back in the pulpit at All Saints’ once again.

I’d like to thank Father
David for the invitation to preach on Trinity Sunday.The invitation may have originated in a
comment that I made to him two weeks ago, when I said that, on Trinity Sunday,
I normally make it my business to attend worship in congregations that regard
the Trinity as an occasion for joyful celebration, rather than as a theological
problem to solve or a theological embarrassment to somehow explain away. … Here
goes.

Let us pray.

May the words of
my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord
our strength and our redeemer.Amen.

If today’s
Eucharist was an episode of Sesame Street, we could say that our liturgy today was
brought to us by the number three.We
celebrate God-as-Trinity, with the unity of the Three and the diversity of the One.

Today, I’d like to
mention (briefly) three reasons for us to go overboard in
celebrating our affirmation of God-as-Trinity.

Affirming God-as-Trinity
reminds us that our faith has never stopped developing, and that it keeps on
developing.

If you read any of
the scripture lessons for Trinity Sunday in any year of the lectionary, you won’t
hear any definite statement about the Trinity.Instead, you’ll hear hints about the Trinity,

such as Paul blessing the Corinthians in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

such as Jesus calling his disciples to baptise in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

There’s a good
reason for this.The Christian belief in
the Trinity really developed after the Scriptures were completed.As important as the Trinity is for Christian
faith, it’s definitely post-biblical.And that’s OK.

Our faith as
Christians has never been static.It has
never reached a point where it stopped developing and where we can say, “Here
it is.Here’s our faith in its final and
definitive form.”

Affirming God-as-Trinity
reminds us that our faith has never stopped developing, and that it keeps on
developing.

Affirming God-as-Trinity
reminds us that it is a good thing for us to use our minds in service to our
faith.

The last time I
preached here, I referred to the importance of our using our minds in service
to our faith.I spoke of Hercule Poirot
and his “little grey cells”, and how it’s important for us all to use our “little
grey cells” in service to our faith. We don't need to check in our minds at the church door.Our affirmation of
God-as-Trinity is the result of generations upon generations of Christian thinkers
using their “little grey cells” to make sense of the relationship of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and how this relationship relates to us as people
of faith.

Affirming God-as-Trinity
reminds us that it is a good thing for us to use our minds in service to our
faith.

For many children,
that brief, three-word verse “God is love.” would be the first words from
Scripture they learned.And these words
are true.

And these words
are also a profound theological statement.When we affirm God-as-Trinity, we state that a loving relationship is at
the heart of God’s very being.The love
of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for one another is the source of our very
being.The love of Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit for one another spills over into love for the whole universe.“God islove.”

This is the theme
of the famous Russian icon by Andrei Rublev on the bookmarks that Father David
has given you today.The Trinity is depicted
as three people sitting at a table sharing a meal together.They are three distinct figures, whose oneness
is seen in their arrangement as a circle and in their identical faces:identical, youthful, androgynous faces.And there’s a fourth seat at the table: a
seat for you, … for me, … for all the world. The love of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for one another spills over into love for the whole universe.“God islove.”

And, as we affirm
that “God is love’, we are also called to deny the popular distortion of our faith
that says that God is somehow less than love.

Sometimes these distortions are forwarded by people seeking to rubbish the life of faith (as we sometimes find in letters to the editor in the newspaper).

Sometimes these distortions are forwarded by those seeking to promote a legalistic understanding of faith (as we sometimes find in letters to the editor in denominational magazines).

In either event, the distortions are wrong and
it’s the task of all of us - not only those of us who are ordained, not only those of us who have a theological education, but all of us - to challenge these distortions (and to ask "What part of 'God is love' don't you understand?")“God is love.”

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About Me

I grew up in the United States and have lived in Australia since 1980. I'm a retired (recycled?) minister in the Uniting Church in Australia. At various times, I've been a parish minister, ecumenical staffer, and hospital chaplain. Some of my interests include theology, liturgy, ecumenism, interfaith relations, history, politics, the arts, humour, and Christmas in popular culture. (I did my doctorate on Advent and Christmas as a "season of opportunity" for churches to relate to their communities.)